The Eyes of Orion

Five Tank Lieutenants in the Persian Gulf War

Alex Vernon

The Eyes of Orion is a highly personal account of the day-to-day experiences of five platoon leaders who served in the same tank battalion in the 24th Infantry Division during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, four of whom are co-authors of The Eyes of Orion: Neal Creighton, Jr., Greg Downey, Rob Holmes and David Trybula. The Foreword is written by Gen. Barry R. McCaffrey.

While professional soldiers and historians will undoubtedly glean much from this narrative, the heart of the account concerns the experiences of the five young lieutenants as they prepared for and served in combat—from their deployment to Saudi Arabia through their six months in the desert training for war, their four days in combat and several weeks of occupation in Iraq, and finally their homecoming. The authors treat their combat experience in Saudi and Kuwait from the perspective of junior officers, all in their twenties and just out of college (four are graduates of West Point and one received his commission through an ROTC program), who served on the front line—facing physical, personal, moral, and leadership challenges.

Alex Vernon is assistant professor of English and chair of American Studies at Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas.

REVIEWS:

“The single best book on the Persian Gulf War on the market today.”

—Military Heritage

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